As of 2016, the “Y2K problem” or “millennium bug” is little more than a memory for anyone who was around to see the turn of the millennium firsthand. However, back in 1999, there were concerns that it could wreak havoc on computers all over the world — and, as it turns out, Microsoft had a plan in place in case the worst fears were realized.
For the uninitiated, the “year 2000 problem” refers to the way that 20th century computers handled dates. Some early programmers had taken to representing the four-digit value of a year with only two digits, which meant that when the millennium came around, these systems would confuse the year 2000 for the year 1900

Under the contract with the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), Microsoft will provide consulting services that include software developers and product teams "to leverage a variety of proprietary resources and source code" and Microsoft premier support services, such as tools and knowledge bases, problem resolution assistance from product developers.

Microsoft claims that more people are switching to Surface devices from Macs than ever before. That's a concept that would have been hard to picture when Microsoft first released the Microsoft Surface RT and Surface Pro in 2012 and 2013, respectively. The Surface RT suffered from a watered-down version of the new -- and generally disliked -- Windows 8 operating system and, while the Surface Pro featured the full desktop version, it came with hardware limitations and a high price tag.

Microsoft has just launched a new Windows 10 app whose purpose is to help users discover the benefits of Windows Defender security solution and always stay up to date with the latest security trends with information provided by the software giant itself.

Called Windows Defender Hub, the application is available in the Store with a free license and works exclusively on PCs - a universal app doesn’t make much sense since Windows Defender is specifically aimed at desktop computers.

Near the end of the last year, Microsoft released version 1511 of its System Center Configuration Manager, optimizing it for Windows 10 and transitioning to Software as a Service (SaaS) model. Now, the company has released version 1610 of the System Center Configuration Manager for the Current Branch (CB).

Earlier this year, Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One S, the successor to its Xbox One console that launched in 2013. The Xbox One S is priced from $299 - but the next console in Microsoft's gaming portfolio will be even more capable, and it should come as no surprise that it will come at a higher price than its predecessor.

Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday unveiled Microsoft Teams, a new chat-based workspace that further enhances the collaboration capabilities in Microsoft Office 365, the cloud-based productivity offering with more than 85 million monthly active commercial users. Microsoft Teams brings together people, conversations, content and the tools teams need to collaborate.

Microsoft will remove support for Office 2007 next year and, without a doubt, many users and companies will be caught off-guard because this is pretty much what happens every time the software giant pulls support for one of its products.

It goes without saying that many still hope to see Microsoft extending support beyond the cutoff date, as it happened with Windows XP, but the company says in a statement that there’s no way Office 2007 would receive updates and security patches beyond October 2017.

Microsoft has rolled out new update rollup previews for Windows 7 and 8.1 to provide users with early access to next month’s patching cycle as per the company’s new approach that came into effect in October.

Specifically, Microsoft is no longer releasing individual patches, but rollups that include all updates for every month, and the company is giving users the chance to try out the next month's updates with so-called Security Monthly Quality Rollups available as optional.

Last week, Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Preview build 14965 to PCs and phones in the Fast ring. Today, the company announced availability of that build for PCs in the Slow ring too.

While Fast ring builds are at the bleeding edge of Windows 10 development, the Slow ring is reserved for those who like to test previews but who prefer more stable builds. The last build to head to PCs in the Slow ring was in early October; build 14931 was the first Slow ring preview of the upcoming Windows 10 Creators Update, previously referred to by its development codename, Redstone 2.

Microsoft's Connect developer conference kicked off Wednesday with some expected news: The next versions of the Visual Studio IDE have arrived on Windows and Mac. (Yep, you read that right.)

After a set of leaks from MSDN Magazine on Monday, the company officially confirmed Wednesday that it's bestowing the Visual Studio brand on Xamarin Studio, a C# development environment for the Mac that the company acquired earlier this year when it bought the company of the same name. In addition, Microsoft's confusingly named Visual Studio "15" was officially renamed Visual Studio 2017 and given a release candidate at the show.

The year 2016 has been very weird. I mean, hell, a reality TV star is the president-elect of the USA -- it doesn't get more odd than that.

Well, maybe it does, actually. Today, Microsoft becomes a Linux Foundation Platinum Member. But wait, isn't the Windows-maker an enemy of open source? Not anymore, folks. Actually, the company is a major contributor to the Linux kernel, and it has been embracing other open source projects too. Satya Nadella's Microsoft is a very different beast compared to the company under prior leadership.

The hub for seeing all directories connected to your computer is This PC (or My Computer in older versions of Windows). It lets you access not only your internal drives, but any removable media connected to your PC like flash drives.

We’ve shown how to change the drive letters that Windows assigns, but there’s another trick hiding inside a Windows setting. By default, you’ll only be able to see drives that you have currently connected to your system. If you want to be able to see all drives at all times, follow these steps.

Microsoft has been working on unifying their operating systems into one since the migration from a Windows CE kernel in Windows Phone 7 to the newer Windows NT in Windows Phone 8. The progress of the project today is what Windows 10 has become.

However, as the migration isn’t as simple as one might think, some legacy code still remains on platforms like Xbox or phones. One of these parts of the code is the Bluetooth settings page, with multiple others like “Extras” and the network settings page, which recently got updated featuring the same underlying code as its desktop counterpart.

Microsoft has silently released a new feature for Windows 10 users that makes it possible to control incoming notifications for the Mail client a little bit easier without having to open the app every time.

Specifically, interactive notifications allow users to delete new emails or set flags without the need for firing up the email client and clicking on the new message, as the whole thing can be performed thanks to the options that are included in the notification message itself.

It’s no longer just about the units sold with your operating system on board it’s about using your operating system to generate ongoing streams of revenues from countless consumers. Android is a past master at this, but Microsoft is catching up quickly in the smart implementation stakes with Windows 10.

Take the news that Apple’s domination of the profits in the smartphone sales environment. By taking over one hundred percent (thanks to losses being counted in the aggregate shares), iOS has a commanding lead over Google. But Google should not be too worried about this news. The sales focus on hardware, while the real value for Google lies in every handset bringing another user into Google’s Service (or consolidating its presence in the life of an existing user). Those users are monetized directly by Mountain View outside of the list price or profit made on the hardware.

Microsoft has published a new white paper called Ransomware Protection in Windows 10 Anniversary Update that details how the latest Windows 10 version helps to protect all of its customers, from consumers to businesses. But in a separate blog post, it also makes its case for why Windows 10 version 1607—that is, Windows 10 with the Anniversary Update installed—is the most secure Windows version yet. Improvements in this release include:

Billionaire Russian anti-virus developer Eugene Kaspersky has penned an angry blog post titled "That's It. I've Had Enough!" to complain about Microsoft and Windows 10. Specifically, Kaspersky argues that the way Microsoft bundled Defender with Windows 10 is anti-competitive: he says that Microsoft has created obstacles to third-party products and is acting against the interests of the developers of third-party security software.

Microsoft today patched a Windows vulnerability that was disclosed just over a week ago by researchers from Alphabet Inc.'s Google.

In one of several security updates -- 14 to be exact -- Microsoft fixed the bug in the Windows kernel drivers that Google security engineers had revealed on Oct. 31, 10 days after notifying Microsoft of the vulnerability.

Live tiles continue to be a top Windows phone feature and since users love them so much, it’s no surprise that Microsoft is always looking into ways to improve their performance and usability.

In the last couple of days, Microsoft rolled out updates for two different apps available for insiders, both of which come with improved live tiles - what it’s worth noting is that while these updates are currently shipped to insiders only, they should become available for everyone very soon, after Microsoft collects the feedback it’s interested in.

A 49-year-old Microsoft employee has been arrested on investigation of child pornography after authorities received a tip from the company.
KIRO-TV says the employee, who lives in Duvall, is being held in King County Jail on $75,000 bail following his arrest Thursday.

Microsoft's unveiling of VR headsets for Windows 10 got overshadowed by the company's Surface Studio hardware last week, but new details are set to be announced soon. In an interview with Polygon, HoloLens chief Alex Kipman revealed that Microsoft will detail its VR headsets at an event in December. Microsoft is planning to hold two WinHEC events in December, one on December 8th-9th, and another on December 14th-15th.